


The 21st World Tournament — DB+

by LordFluffySword



Series: Dragon Ball Plus [2]
Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Constructive Criticism Welcome, Drabbley Chapters, Dragon Ball (classic), Dragon Ball -, Dragon Ball Minus, Gen, Goku ended up a good guy anyways, Goku never hit his head, I am the first person to use Goku and Krillin's platonic tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-14 11:37:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9179896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordFluffySword/pseuds/LordFluffySword
Summary: The monk looked down again. "They've always been able to beat me up.""But you've been training," the boy said with an encouraging smile.The world's greatest martial artists gather at this arena, and the greatest among them leaves in glory.





	1. Preliminaries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you get confused by the kanji, just check the notes at the end.  
> On another note:  
> I always liked Krillin.  
> Now he's in the AU.  
> Yee.

_"What the hell is this? There's no satisfaction in beating such a puny little bug like you!"_  
_"Funny. I was gonna say the same thing."_  
\---  
"I... I can't do this anymore..." An encounter with his old bullies was one of the only things that could shake Krillin's excitement. "He's super strong..." And as per usual, it happened. "Maybe I'll just forfeit."  
"Maybe you'll just stomp him," a voice cut through the despair crowding Krillin's mind. The monk looked up.  
There stood a messy haired boy garbed in an orange gi similar to Krillin's own. The difference lied in the kanji. While Krillin's gi bore the character "亀" in both the circles, (on the back and on the chest,) the stranger had different characters in both. Framed proudly upon the boy's back was the symbol "孫," and, for whatever reason, "牛" on the chest.  
"I mean, you haven't even started. It's too early to know the outcome."  
The monk looked down again. "They've always been able to beat me up."  
"But you've been training," the boy said with an encouraging smile. "Don't you owe it to your master to at least give it your best shot?"  
A few seconds later, there was a bully sized hole in the wall. Krillin had won. He smiled. He actually did it. He. Did. It. He isn't just some wimp.  
And he was overjoyed.  
\---  
_"Oh, sorry, my sense of smell just isn't what it used to be. I suppose I should get you out of the ring, now."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for convenience:  
> 孫 Son (Goku's surname. Gohan the 2nd wears this on his tunic prior to Piccolo's training.)  
> 牛 Gyū (Ox. The Ox King wears this on his hat throughout the course of DBZ.)  
> 亀 Kame (Turtle. The kanji found on the Turtle School uniform.)


	2. Name of the Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The power a name can hold is hard for most to truely appreciate.

"Ah, Yamcha, you've been keeping up on your training, I see."  
"Of course, master Gohan!"  
"Wait, Gohan? Th-the one master trained?"  
"Yeah, Grandpa was Roshi's top student back then."  
"Oh, I wouldn't go that far."  
"Hello!" A voice cuts through the chatter. "Participants please, come forth!"  
The grouped turned to the source of the voice. It belonged to a blond haired man, hair well groomed outside of a single stray bang, wearing a suit and sunglasses.  
"In order to determine the order of battles, we will again be drawing lots. When your name is called, please step forward."  
The orange-red clad, messy haired, monkey-tailed boy's face grew into a smile. He was finally going to see just how far he had come.  
He heard the first name that was actually familiar to him.  
"So... Son Gohan?!"  
"Just thought I'd come down from the mountain." The old man stepped forth to draw his number. "Never thought I'd come out of retirement, though."  
"Number two. You'll be competing in battle number one." The man in sunglasses turned back to the crowd. "Yamcha."  
"Yeah." The ex-bandit stepped forward as Gohan returned to the crowd.  
"Number three. Battle number two!" The man spoke the next fighter's name. "Krillin."  
"Y-yes sir!" the young monk said, stammering. He stepped forward, though his small stature made it a _bit_ difficult to grab his number.  
"Number one! Battle number one! You'll be going up against Son Gohan!"  
The monk grew pale. He's up against the great Son Gohan!?  
The last name of meaning to the messy-haired boy, his own, was finally called:  
"Kakarot."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you guys think not putting any particular emphasis on that last line makes it more effective, or less?


	3. Quarterfinals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The part before the semifinals.

_"Thank you all for waiting so patiently! Battle number one, Krillin versus Son Gohan, is about to begin!"_  
\---  
The thirteen year old monk gulped. He shivered. His mouth felt dry, he couldn't see past his near peripheral, he could hardly hear, everything was a blur, he was shaking...  
The pressure he felt right then was far greater than any fear he once felt with his bullies.  
They weren't Son Gohan, for one thing.  
The old man began to speak. "Now, there, no need to lock up. Show me what you can do."  
Krillin's vision began to return. He charged forward, throwing a mighty punch. The old man caught the punch, pushing back  
_Did he just...?_  
The monk threw another punch. Again, it was caught, seemingly without effort, except for one detail:  
_He did! He used his other hand to support his arm!_  
And just like that, Krillin had an idea.  
Before the old man could push back, Krillin did a small hop, placing his free hand to the floor of the arena. He pulled in his fist, sending all of his weight towards the old man, and let loose a powerful kick. The old man stumbled back, releasing Krillin, and the monk pushed himself to his feet with the hand he still had on the floor.  
Knowing he only had a split second opening before the old man recovered, the monk let loose a barrage of punches and kicks, before being interrupted by an unexpected uppercut.  
The monk was sent flying upwards by the force of the punch, and in an instant the old man has passed him in the air. Just as he reached the peak of his ascent, he was met with a fierce downward kick.  
The monk collided with the arena with enough force to crack it, but managed to return to his feet before the old man landed.  
"Rock!"  
He was then met with a punch to the face, and stumbled back. He heard a shout of "paper!" from the old man, who had struck the monk with an open palm. Again, the monk stumbled backwards, stopping himself just before suffering a ring out. He charged at the old man, but instead of landing a forceful blow like he had intended, the monk only phased through the older martial artist.  
_An afterimage?_  
He felt a powerful punch collide with his back, and fell face first into the arena floor, narrowly avoiding a ring out.  
He struggled to his feet. _gonna feel that in the morning._ He took to the defensive as the old man threw a flurry of punches and kicks, blocking and dodging and shifting, afterimaging, strafing and punching and back stepping, charging and feinting several times before charging and striking.  
He was getting tired, but he kept pushing.  
Blocking and getting hit and slipping, afterimaging to no avail, strafing and missing and stumbling, charging and feinting and slipping further into his exhaustion.  
Krillin fell for another afterimage, and felt a blow to his stomach.  
He fell to the floor.  
"One... Two... Three..."  
He heard the count begin. He could hardly move.  
"Four... Five... Six..."  
He couldn't stand. He knew he had lost. What a loss it was.  
"Seven... Eight... Nine..."  
Losing during the first round... It was so early, he felt so powerless.  
"I surrender."  
\---  
_"Why is Nam so scared? This lady is using the **worst** _stance I've ever seen in my life."__  
_"... You're kidding, right?"_  
_"I mean, I might not have seen many fighters yet, but-"_  
_"Never mind, forget I asked."_  
\---  
"Now let battle number four begin!!!"  
"You little pip squeak... I'm gonna grind you into dust!"  
"Hey, now," responded the monkey-tailed warrior, doing some stretches. "If you get overconfident, you won't give it your all." He ceased his stretching, and took his stance. "Come at me."  
The giras charged towards the boy, swatting him away with a tail swipe. He crashed through the back wall, but immediately charged back into the fray. "Not bad," he said as he collided with the giras, sending him flying. "That actually hurt."  
Then Giran started actually flying.  
The giras started charging towards the boy. He smirked, before taking a new stance.  
"Ka... Me... Ha... Me..."  
He just before the giras's strike connected, the boy shouted the last syllable: "HA!"  
The giras was again blasted away, and the boy jumped into the air, kicking him back to the arena. The giras, with a scowl on his face, pulled out his final trick:  
He spit out a strange pinkish purple substance, entangling the monkey-tailed boy. "Bwahahah! Now you're trapped in my Merry-Go-Round Gum!" The giras smiled. "Struggle all you want, you'll only make it worse for yourself!"  
The younge warrior merely laughed in response. "I'll admit, that was a pretty cool move, Giran." He effortlessly tore through the giras's Merry-Go-Round Gum. "But I'm a tough kid. You'll need better than that."  
"I give."  
\---  
_"You're a new challenge, Krillin. Your style is unfamiliar to my grandson. That's why I surrendered."_  
_"I'm not sure I understand..."_  
_"Should you face him in the finals, give him everything you got. Hold nothing back."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally two chapters.


	4. Krillin's Struggle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The real battle begins.

_"And a one, a two! A one, two, three, four!"_  
 _"And a one, a two! A we are done here!"_  
\---  
The two martial artists, one young and one old, stared each other down.  
The older, Jackie Chun, had no stance to speak of. He merely stood.  
Krillin, the younger of the two, had his feet apart, though otherwise lacked any practical stance.  
Whatever their stances may be, they were staring at eachother.  
Krillin interrupted the staring contest with a sudden charge. He threw a punch, which Jackie skillfully dodged with with a backflip. An onslaught of kicks, which Jackie narrowly avoided.  
A direct punch to the face, sending the old man tumbling backwards, narrowly avoiding a ring out  
Another punch, this time to the gut. The old man caught it.  
Or he tried to, at least.  
Despite the catch, the punch continued to travel, and the old man felt his arm begin to give way. The old man side stepped, trying to use Krillin's momentum against him, but the monk had already leaped back to the center of the arena.  
Jackie rushed forward throwing a punch. It hit head on, nailing the monk in the face, and the monk was sent flying.  
However, rather than crashing into the wall as the old man, the monk managed to land on the wall feet first. In an incredible surprise attack, he kicked off, absolutely shattering the wall, and with all of his weight thrown into a head butt of spectacular momentum, he nailed the old man in the chest. The old man was thrown backwards by the blow, slamming into the wall used to protect the audience.  
"Jackie Chun has been knocked out of the ring! The winner is Krillin!"  
And through out all of this, the monkey tailed boy sat in the contestant's room, meditating in wait for his next match.  
\---  
 _"Your biggest mistake here, Nam, was using an attack that leaves you wide open."_  
\---  
As the match began, both contestants immediately charged each other.  
 _"Do not let Krillin win..."_  
Goku dodged an incoming blow.  
 _"Give him everything you've got..."_  
Krillin threw a punch at the monkey tailed boy's face.  
 _"He won't be able to train properly..."_  
Goku slammed his knee into the monk's stomach.  
 _"Hold **nothing** back."_  
Krillin threw a punch, a crushing punch, lethal, even fatal to a normal human, at the chest of his messy haired opponent, who was thrown back by the blow.  
"You know what you're doing." Goku lifted his head, smiling, seemingly unfazed by the damage he had suffered. "This is gonna be fun."  
They clashed again, with blinding speed, and the monk was hurled to the floor. He quickly pulled himself to his feet, but seemed dazed.  
 _Perfect._  
"Kame..."  
The bruised grandchild of Gohan prepared his ki.  
"... Hame..."  
He trained his eye on the monk, who had just steadied himself but seemed to be in some sort of trance.  
 _I got you now._  
"HAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The beam had phased right through the monk. Realization dawned upon Goku. _That explains the trance, at least._  
The monkey tailed boy was immediately hit by a roundhouse kick, sending him to the floor. He returned to his feet before the count could begin, and flashed his foe a grin.  
"Nice afterimage. Actually fooled me."  
"You just did a Kamehameha!"  
"So?"  
"Are you trying to kill me?!"  
"More along the times of imcapacimitate."  
"Incapacitate."  
"That's what I said."  
They rushed each other again, punch met by catch, kick met by block, fist met by face, blow to blow to blow to blow.  
There was no end in sight, until suddenly, Goku felt his tail begin to tingle.  
The full moon was out.  
He couldn't afford to hold back even slightly. He had to end it immediately.  
He closed his eyes, putting his other senses in charge.  
A shout. The monk had dashed forward.  
Goku dodged under the monk, ducking, and channeled all of his might into a single upward punch, fist colliding with the monk's gut as he passed overhead. A yelp rang out...

"Krillin has been knocked out..."  
Finally, his mission completed, the monkey tailed boy blacked out.

\---  
 _"You were pretty strong."_  
 _"Not compared to you. You beat me with your eyes closed."_  
 _"The moon was out."_  
 _"So?"_  
 _"Heheh... Never mind. Come on, lunch is on me."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not ENTIRELY sure about the pacing, but this was the best version I could manage.  
> Krillin and Goku here are at around the level Goku was during his first match with Tao in canon, just an FYI. Goku just had no guard up whatsoever during the Giran fight.


End file.
